"That is happiness; to be disolved into something complete and great. When it comes to one, it comes as naturally as sleep." - Willa Cather

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Friday, 3 June 2011

32 Weeks/Working on a Friday Night

How does a person who was supposed to start maternity leave today end up working until 8pm on a Friday night??

1. I say yes to too many projects2. I sleep too much

(feel bad for me?? okay, probably not)

Yes, sweet sleep. I think about it all of the time now. My days consist of at least 9 hours of sleep at night and sometimes a nap on top of that in the afternoon. It is wonderful. I am the type of person who is always bordering on mania. I normally can't fall asleep, I wake up early and I can never nap. But during these last few weeks, I've seen a change in all of that. Yesterday, I fell asleep on SR's lap as we watched a show about Alaska. Maybe he thought I was dead. I've never done this before. And it was amazing. (I would be much more likely to fall asleep watching an episode of Lost than a documentary about Alaska, by the way).

But what is all of this I've said yes to???

1. This is the blog's fault. I started ranting to the head researcher in the population study I'm working with about how bad the Tanita scan is for measuring body fat and how ludicrous the guidelines are that are given to all of our research participants as "healthy fat ranges". I didn't realize this would be such big news to everyone involved in the study, and suddenly I'm the expert on body composition, trying to design a protocol to verify our own Tanita scan and understand the importance of body fat to health.... And I'm supposed to be studying eye diseases!! (trust me, I know a LOT more about body composition than I did a month ago - and WAY more than I ever wanted to know!)

2. This is ALSO the blog's fault. I've become passionate about general medicine again. A number of you have written to me with questions about your own health (yes, I guess you know who you are). And I have realized there is almost nothing I enjoy more than helping people with their general health concerns. I have, almost certainly, come to the conclusion that I am going to do a residency in Family Medicine. It's a big change from Ophthalmology, and it will take some time and effort to work out the details (but at least SR is thrilled).

3. I think I have discovered a major risk factor for the development of macular degeneration, at least in the Danish population. Of course, nothing is published yet and I really shouldn't write preliminary results on a blog. But what the heck, you guys teach me so much; maybe you'll have input on this, too. It seems that even more important in the development of macular degeneration than smoking itself is whether one's parents smoked when one was a kid and/or whether one's mother smoked during pregnancy. It is kind of a long, complicated story how this discovery came about, but I will give you the link to the article when I publish it.

And what about the pregnancy? Well, I feel good but running is anything but effortless. There is no pain per se, but I feel big, sweat a lot, breath really hard, etc.. The weird thing is, one would think I would get faster since I have gone the last 3 weeks without gaining weight, but the opposite is true. But swimming and biking times still remain basically unchanged.

We are running the Skodsborg Marathon on Sunday (NO, I won't run the whole thing!) and, as far as I am concerned, it is going to be kind of a joke ("make it to the next tree, then you can walk!", etc.), but I don't mind spending the day in those beautiful woods again :).

And music. I hardly listen to music anymore when I run. But I heard something on the radio yesterday that made me laugh. If this makes sense to anyone but me, please speak up "Australia is the new Sweden". Exactly. Now that I've been pushing Architecture in Helsinki for the last couple of weeks, it's time to tell you about yet another awesome Australian band, Cloud Control. My current favorite is: This is what I said

Finally -- I need your help. We are looking for a double baby jogger. Anyone have any recommendations? Any warnings about bad ones? Anyone selling theirs.... ???

31 comments:

Love reading how inspired you get by general health issues, enjoy your marathon this weekend - I'll be enjoying my half iron the same day in a similar fashion - and the forecast is for sun, yahoo! Not log for you now, I'm glad the biking and running times are still hanging in there :)

For the double jogger I would go with a Bob revolution. Reasonable (sort of) price with a front wheel that swivels or can be fixed. Another good option is a double Burley bike trailer with the addition of the stroller handle bar attachment.

I wish you could become my doctor!! I went to the doc the other day for my IT band and she pretty much told me "stop running if it hurts." Yeah, like that's useful. You got any suggestions? I make love to my foam roller daily, ironing out my outer thigh and try to avoid slanted roads.

Have fun on that marathon this weekend. I love the photo of you with the sport's bra, and "baby" written on your belly. Priceless! :)

I have NO idea how you accomplish all you do. I am home all day, can't exercise and I haven't even read one book :)

I definitely would say the BOB. I hate the bike/running combo strollers. It never works great for running (at least the one I have). I have found it's better to have a jogging stroller and a burley. IMHO.

Cherelli: Good luck in the half iron man!! Ooh, I wish I had one of those in my near future. Have fun!

Grace & Stefanie: thanks so much. Just looked up the BOB and had initially been turned off because I thought the wheels were smaller than 16", but they ARE 16". It's not heavy to push?? It just looks kind of heavy. It really helps to get your recs, guys!

Karen, how long have you had ITB syndrome?? Now don't laugh or be mad, but my initial suggestion is like almost the same suggestion I have for all running problems: run on trails and try more minimalist shoes (they have to be the right minimalist shoes for you, though, and the idea has to be running more on your toes). My understanding of ITB syndrome, is that it's like shin splints in the sense that it't not running in itself that does it, but running on surfaces that exacerbate it or shoes that bring it on.

Eagerly jotting down baby stroller tips... :) Good luck in the marathon! If it's as hot there as it is here in Berlin, then take it easy. Gallowalking is my new best friend. Perhaps you will enjoy it as well :)

I guess I never really thought about whether stroller is heavy to push. I figure it's all relative and heavy anyway running with 2 kids in the stroller - regardless! :)Another perk to the BOB Duallie- you can get an infant car seat attachment to go in it.....

BOB's are incredibly well made- we have a single Revolution, when it arrived my husband commented that is is nicer than most people's cars. It has shockingly little rolling resistance one it gets going. I have used the double as well, even with two toddlers in it I don't find it much more onerous than the single. I think the biggest adjustment is just getting used to using a jogging stroller.

It is hard not to be impressed by all of this BOB support! I forgot to ask about the front wheel. We have only ever had a fixed front wheel and I can't imagine a baby jogger with a wheel that swivels in the front. It's not annoying?

I have a Tike Tech double. From the reviews I read it is lighter than the Bob (and cheaper by about a hundred bucks.) I also got the infant car seat attachment and it has a fixed wheel. So far it has lasted through hundreds of miles though I suspect the Bob is probably slightly better quality. (One would hope.)

Okay, one last BOB related comment - personally, I think the swivel wheel is awesome! For sidewalks, paved areas, etc, it is perfect for turning corners. Also, it can be fixed in place easily with a lever for trails, etc when it might be annoying. Also, with the swivel, you do have to get used to tipping the stroller back/putting it back down when going over bumps/curbs so you don't shimmy, but slowing down a little remedies that pretty easily. Good luck!

Interesting. I just looked it up and less than 30% of Family Med docs in Denmark are women, so the story must be different here! Anyway, in the US, there will soon be more females in Ophthalmology, too. So it's no reason to pick a specialty - since they'll all be women-dominated (except maybe Orthopedics & some surgical subspecialties like Vascular Surgery) in the next 10 years, at least in the US.

And I didn't even take you into consideration among the people who had asked me for medical advice. In fact, I've never had a man ask me for medical advice over the blog! But three women the very week you wrote to me... (men HATE asking for medical advice!)

My goodness, SLG, do you never stop working? I am impressed by your level of commitment to work, especially because it's been so hard recently for me to get in even a few good hours of writing a day. I'd sleep like twenty hours a day if I could.I'm excited for you that you have found a calling for a specialty. The world needs more good Family Medicine doctors. Don't know what I would do without my great "huisarts."So, you're asking for suggestions for a double jogging stroller. Can't help you there, but I'd love to ask you to recommend a single jogging stroller. I've been looking at them online. In theory I'm head over heels for the BOB Ironman, except for the price! Good luck in your quest for a good double stroller!

Howdy. Go with the BOB Ironman. It's awesome. A tank, that's easy to push. And if you buy the additional carseat adaptor, you can run with your infant and toddler right away. I ran with the single Ironman and loved it, and now push the toddler and baby in the double, and it's not much harder than the single. It doesn't have a swivel wheel, but I don't mind that. It's not like I am maneuvering around a mall or something with it, so I don't need to make tight turns.Love love love it.J.

Jacqueline, well maybe I am sold on the BOB now! Holy cow- lots of recs for that one. Amazing.

Diana, the Ironman BOB looks awesome. I agree. We currently have the "Baby Jogger" brand with he 16" wheels, which we both love. We also really loved the Instep 5k (or 10k??) that someone ran over with their van, unfortunately, with The Lorax in it. Luckily he wasn't hurt!!!

Just piping in to say that SLG: your advice to Karen about her ITBS is absolutely wrong, and the recommendation to wear minimalist shoes is possibly dangerous.

Karen: ITBS can have many causes. It does correlate strongly with overpronation, which can be addressed by having more support in your shoes, if in fact you overpronate. There is anecdotal, (although no scientific or medical evidence), that strengthening your feet through barefoot activity (not necessarily running) may strengthen the muscles in your feet, and either lessen the extent or consequence of barefoot overpronation, but barefoot running is certainly not recognized by any competent medical professional as a cure in itself to ITBS. However, ITBS is not always caused by overpronation. It is also very frequently caused by leg length discrepancy, which can functionally derive from carrying a heavy load repetitively on one side of the body (ie baby, heavy purse), or by otherwise having a weak core, or by having a muscle imbalance causing limited range of motion in the lower extremities... and that's just some of them. "Stop running" (at least, without other courses of action designed to quickly reeturn you to running) to me sounds like you need to find a different doctor, rather than an internet consult.

SLG: I'm ashamed of you. For someone who spends so much time researching and citing valid medical and scientific studies to back up other medical claims, it is very sloppy of you to be making claims about the purported health benefits of barefoot running based on the claims of a fad; go see what the legitimate medical community has to say about the risks of barefoot running and the claims of barefoot runners first. In particular, I'd pay attention to the many, many peer-critiques of the Lieberman study.

I would love to read these studies you are referring to! It would be wonderful to have good info on ITB syndrome. I always base my medical advice on trusted medical sources that I read, if I am not very familiar with the issue and treatment to begin with. And this was no exception. The running surface seems to be very important for ITB and it also seems there is conflicting evidence about correction of overpronation - but if you are referring to some good evidence, I would love to read it. I am FAR from an expert on ITB, but would love to learn more! Any links or study titles you could send my way would be very appreciated. Karen would probably appreciate them, too!

I think you have an interesting point about leg-length discrepency, Green Light. Could Karen potentially go to a chiropractor to see if that is the case and for possible treatment - just curious.

First off, thank you for your concern. Secondly, thanks for calling me a moron: "to me sounds like you need to find a different doctor, rather than an internet consult."

I have practically all the causes and risk factors for ITBS, including severe overpronation, unavoidable slanted roads and trails, and a leg length discrepancy of 1/2" (I have a heel lift to even out the difference). I also have one weak side on my hip due to a bone surgery (ITBS side and longer leg), that may never become strong enough. I've always been fairly certain that's what I had. It's easy to self-diagnose, but harder to find photos of stretches and exercises to strengthen things. This is what I was asking SLG for.

My current training makes me unwilling to try minimalist shoes, especially since the trails are inaccessible in the winter due to flooding and high water, and I'm waiting for more evidence that minimalist actually works rather than being a fad.

What I have been doing has made the ITBS manageable, but it is still there. A lot of times, runners have gone through injuries and offer better advice than an MD. Can't blame me for asking right?

SLG, I have been so busy and have just checked in on your blog after a long absence...so, first, congrats on the almost-arrived new one. Running can be tough in the later stages, as you know, but kudos to you for sticking with it. Sort of hard to imagine *not* running, isn't it?

Second, late on this, but I also have a double BOB, and it's been great (my girls are now nearly 4.5 and 2.5; I used it from the time that the younger one was a couple months). We got one with off road tires and suspension (nice for running on wide trails, as we do on occasion). That model didn't have the swivel wheel (although the options may have changed), but we're not taking it in very tight spaces most of the time (although I do occasionally take it into our coop to buy a few things, and it's fine manuevering in the aisles).

Yes, with two kids in it - even petite kids like mine -- it's not exactly lightweight. I don't run w/ it that often; we use it more for walks to the park etc. But it's nice to have the option of putting both kids in it for a run, and it's definitely a good workout. Good luck!

Hi Layna!! Thanks for the input. I actually did just order a BOB duallie last weekend, since my parents said it could be my birthday gift :). I chose one without the swivel wheel. Glad to hear it worked for you. I just really need something to run/walk with both of them so I can get Christian to daydcare. I am not crazy about bike trailers, to be honest - much more comfortable running.

Hello from Rude Skov

Photo by Stine Sophie Winckel

...

My name is Tracy. I am a physician scientist from the USA, living with my husband and two young boys in Denmark. I work as a post-doc fellow at Næstved Hospital. I have a scientific interest in vision loss, vision loss during exercise, exercise, running during pregnancy, MAF training as well as nutrition and health for athletes. I also have a love for music, physics, statistics, cycling, yoga, cross-country skiing, bla bla bal.

I was a member of Team USA at the IAU World Championships in Ultra Trail Running in 2013 in Wales. I am now training to run with Team Denmark at the IAU World Championships in Annency, France in May 2015.